Found (stray?) horse near La Cienega - Santa Fe River

I came across this horse today. She's on BLM land near La Cienega on the Santa Fe River. There are wild horses out there, but she was so friendly and by herself I don't think she's wild. She came running up to me like she was happy to see a human. I gave her an apple and she wanted to follow me. Anyone know of a missing horse? She has plenty of water and food out there, but she seems lonely. How do you report a found horse?

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Hi Cindy. You did and I went with the Horse Shelter as my first contact because, like Georgia suspected, I wasn't sure what Livestock Board would do, but she called them and they are looking into it, but apparently aren't sure about the permittee thing either so both Georgia and I are also trying to find a BLM contact. Between the 3 of us hopefully we can soon determine if the horse truly is abandoned. Once that's determined then we can move ahead and get her help!

Thank you LUCYloo! What a generous offer! I talked to Georgia from the Horse Shelter and what a great group they are! Georgia explained things so eloquently to me and I'll probably garble it up here, but basically it's a bit complicated because she's on BLM land. If she were found on pvt land and the land owner said, "not my horse" it'd be cut and dry. But we need to find someone with the BLM who would know if this horse belongs to a permittee. Georgia has contacted the Livestock Board who also sound like a great bunch of people who are overwhelmed with similar situations, but want to do what's best for the animal but need to go through the right channels to find the owner before the animal can be removed.

Basically what needs to happen is the BLM has to say this horse doesn't belong to one of their permittees. Then the Livestock Board can pick her up. Then there's a good chance from there the Horse Shelter or other local horse rescue can take her in and find her a new home.

She's not lame. She appears to be in good shape. She has plenty of food and water, but she is lonely. I'm hoping to get back out there tomorrow to see if I can get a better look for a brand. And I'll see if I can find someone with the BLM who can answer the permittee question. Any leads let me know!

Thank you Shari. I sent an email to the Horse Shelter. I've heard horses are being "dumped" in larger numbers these days because of the economy. She is so sweet, people friendly, and tolerated my dogs barking at her. She seemed to want human contact.